This sociolinguistic study of the bilingual speech of Spanish immigrants in Toulouse, France focuses on the phenomenon of code-switching (CS). The analysis of the data showed that most CS was situational, rather than metaphorical. Three types of CS were found: insertion, alternation, and congruent lexicalization. Their examination revealed that the insertion of French words was more common than of Spanish items, the alternation was most frequent in repetitions, and the congruent lexicalization was present at the grammatical and structural level. The speech of the individual participants was also analyzed, and it was found that the sociological aspects greatly affected the use of CS. Finally, the analysis of the frequency effects was conducted revealing that the topic of the nouns influenced the language in which the nouns were used. The results proved that it is impossible to conduct a reliable grammatical analysis without including the sociolinguistic aspects.

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M.A. (African Languages) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

This study examines the language situation in the media discourse on The Opposite Direction, al-Jazeera’s flagship talk show hosted by Faisal al-Qasim. It investigates the phenomenon of code-switching between Standard Arabic and different spoken vernaculars during the talk exchange. Theories of code-switching proposed by Gumperz, Giles, and Myers-Scotton et al. are introduced after the history of Arabic discourse analysis is briefly discussed. In order to explain under what conditions code-switching happens, I choose to observe and analyze instances of code-switching in four episodes of the program, focusing on the communicative functions and motivations for language choice. The applicability of relevant theories is examined to find the theories that best account for speakers’ engaging in code-switching in the pan-Arab media discourse. / text

Codeswitching between languages is a uniquely bilingual mode of communication. The purpose of this dissertation is to enhance the current body of knowledge dealing with the phenomenon by analysing samples of speech produced by twenty-six Spanish/English bilingual children ranging in age from eight to twelve. Methods of analysis include theoretical linguistics, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, and educational linguistics. A discussion of relevant codeswitching research covering the past thirty years is presented. The data were collected during a reading study focusing on miscue analysis. The children read stories in English and retold them in both Spanish and English. The analysis considers the data from the four previously mentioned points of view. The linguistic analysis looks at the locations of switched constituents within the sentence and the frequency with which those constituents are switched. The data of this study are compared with that of other researchers, and a consideration of a formal grammar of codeswitching is presented. The sociolinguistic analysis addresses the effect of social and stylistic variables on codeswitching. The psycholinguistic analysis of codeswitching covers lexical storage, editing phenomena, and developmental aspects. Finally, some aspects of the education of bilinguals are considered by analysing the effect of the printed word on language switching and dialect shifting . The application of the results of the analysis to both theoretical issues and practical concerns is explored along with suggested areas for future research. The analyses show that young children's codeswitching initially favors less complex structures and is influenced by few social variables. As they grow older, they become more comfortable with switching grammatically complex structures, and they become aware of a greater variety of social factors. A separate grammar is not necessary for a complete description of codeswitching; a modified interdependance model of the two grammars can account for the codeswitching mode. Lastly, the written language becomes part of the speech situation in the classroom and affects the choice of language or dialect spoken.

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University of Macau / Faculty of Arts and Humanities. / Department of English

University of Macau / Faculty of Arts and Humanities. / Department of English

No description available.

Thesis (M.A (Translation studies and linguistics )) --University of Limpopo (Turfloop Campus), 2010. / This research is intended as a tool to survey the state of Sindebele, the speech variety that is predominantly spoken at Mokopane in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. The study will inform the reader, making use of a sociolinguistic approach, about the language situation at Mokopane. The study further provides a factual account as to what is happening at Mokopane concerning the two commonly spoken speech forms, that is, Sepedi and Sindebele. Furthermore, it presents ideas and insights in order to stimulate academic debates on the differences between isiNdebele and Sindebele and how the authorities are approaching the whole idea of Sindebele as a minority language. The researcher used the qualitative method to have more insight into the language situation of the area. The tool the researcher will use in this research will be the structured interview that will enable her to obtain the required sample of the respondents. The main aim of the researcher to conduct this research is to analyse the linguistic situation to understand the socio-political situation of the area. The researcher has found that the issue of Sindebele is more of a political nature than social. The Sindebele speakers’ concern about the revival of their speech form seems to have gone in one ear and out the other, as a result, Sindebele may totally not be given recognition as a subject in schools. Finally, the researcher gives general recommendations for improving the status of Sindebele.